Monday, August 30, 2010

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today joined officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and a task force of federal and regional law enforcement agencies to announce the results of Operation Disarm. The operation is the largest parole sweep in the history of Los Angeles, targeting about 300 high profile parolees for illegal activity in both the city and the county.

Nearly 1,000 officers from 17 federal, state and local agencies worked together in today’s surprise sweep early this morning. Preliminary results from Operation Disarm indicate that 80 parolees were arrested, 50 weapons, over 150 rounds of ammunition and drugs, including marijuana and cocaine, and drug paraphernalia were confiscated, as well as 11 children were taken into protective custody. The goal of the operation was to focus on parolees with felony convictions for weapons possessions and parolees with gang affiliations, and return any violators back to custody.

“This operation sends a message to communities throughout our state that we are dedicated to public safety and focused on those most likely to commit serious or violent offenses,” said CDCR Adult Parole Operations Director Robert Ambroselli.

Operation Disarm is one of many operations and actions recently conducted by CDCR and special task forces to improve public safety and eliminate dangers posed by serious and violent parolees and gang members. CDCR launched historic parole reforms earlier this year under legislation passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor last year. The reforms include a new parole supervision model which allows parole agents to focus on high risk parolees by lowering caseloads from 70 per agent to 48 per agent. The department has also increased its efforts to proactively connect parolees with community resources to help them reintegrate into society while also stepping up efforts to capture parolees who have absconded from supervision. Savings from the reforms are providing additional funding to hire more than 400 additional agents. The reforms also provide more than $5 million in reallocated funding for California Parole Apprehension Teams (CPAT) to actively search and apprehend high-risk parole absconders.

Since CPAT was formed in January as a result of the parole reforms, the number of parolees-at-large has realized the fastest and most dramatic reduction in California history. Not including the results of today’s major sweep operation, CPAT has located or arrested 2,598 parolees-at-large, including nearly 100 sex offenders.

Here is a roll up of the new coverage from the event:

Massive parolee sweep leads to more than 75 arrests
Los Angeles Times

More than 75 high-profile parole offenders were arrested early Thursday in a massive multi-agency sweep of Los Angeles County, officials said. About a thousand officers from various agencies took part in the 5:30 a.m. sweep. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the effort, dubbed "Operation Disarm," a success during a press conference Thursday morning. The sweep targeted 300 high-profile parolees and resulted in 77 arrests, along with the seizure of 21 weapons, more than 150 rounds of ammunition and caches of cocaine and marijuana. The parolees targeted included felons with weapons convictions and gang affiliations.

It's described as the largest parole sweep in Los Angeles County history. More than six dozen suspected parole violators were arrested and drugs and weapons were seized in a massive law enforcement operation. About 300 high-profile parolees were targeted in Operation Disarm. Most had spent time in prison for gun crimes. It was also one of the largest parole sweeps in the entire state. The goal of Operation Disarm was to track down parole violators and to take illegal weapons off the streets.

Authorities say they've arrested more than 60 people in a Los Angeles-area parole sweep designed to take illegal guns off the streets. State, local and federal agents spread out Thursday morning to determine whether 300 people who went to prison for gun crimes are obeying their parole terms. Violators could go back to prison.

Authorities arrested a wanted parolee Thursday after a standoff at a Pasadena home in what officials are calling the the Los Angeles area's largest-ever parole sweep. The arrest was part of what authorities called the largest parole sweep operation in Los Angeles history Thursday during which 77 wanted "high-profile" parolees were arrested, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said at a news conference in Carson. The operation targeted about 300 parolees.

Authorities arrested 77 high-profile parolees during a massive multi-agency sweep of Los Angeles County. Nearly 1,000 state, local and federal agents fanned out across Southern California to particiate in "Operation Disarm." The goal: To determine if 300 people who went to prison for gun crimes are obeying their parole terms.

Nearly 80 parolees were arrested and more than 20 weapons seized during what was billed Thursday as the largest sweep of its kind in the history of Los Angeles County. Called Operation Disarm, the sweep targeted parolees with felony convictions for gun crimes. By late morning, police had arrested 77 parolees primarily because they had guns and recovered 21 guns, more than 150 rounds of ammunition and drugs that included marijuana and cocaine, the Governor's Office said.

Authorities say they've arrested more than 60 people in a Los Angeles-area parole sweep designed to take illegal guns off the streets. State, local and federal agents spread out Thursday morning to determine whether 300 people who went to prison for gun crimes are obeying their parole terms. Violators could go back to prison.

Authorities have arrested 77 people in a massive Los Angeles-area parole sweep. Nearly 1,000 state, local and federal agents spread out Thursday morning to determine whether 300 people who went to prison for gun crimes are obeying their parole terms. Violators could go back to prison. At a news conference, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said parole system reforms made earlier this year are providing more funding and helping authorities to focus on high-risk offenders.

Dozens of parolees arrested in L.A.-area sweep
Los Angeles Daily News
Scores of parolees were arrested today in what is being described as the largest parole sweep in the history of Los Angeles. More than 60 people were arrested in the sweep, according to media reports.The task force operation included personnel from the U.S. Marshals Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department; the Los Angeles County Probation Department; and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.

Two men from Canyon Country were arrested as part of the largest parole sweep in Los Angeles County, authorities confirmed Friday. On Thursday, 77 people were arrested across the county for violating the terms of their parole. About 1,000 officers from 17 local, state and federal agencies conducted parole sweeps on about 300 parolees who had been arrested on felony charges for weapons possession or gang involvement, according to a statement from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office. “Operation Disarm” netted two arrests in the Santa Clarita Valley, Gordon Hinkle, a California Department of Corrections spokesman, said in an e-mail Friday.

There was also a sweep in Solano County the same day. This article recaps their results.

Solano County parole sweep nets 22 arrests
The Vacaville Reporter

Friday marked the second day of an unannounced parole sweep targeting 94 Fairfield, Vacaville and Dixon parolees. Conducted by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's adult parole division and allied local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, the sweep resulted in 22 arrests of people found to be in violation of their parole terms, authorities said.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Gov. Schwarzenegger Provides Assistance to Firefighters in Russia
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the state of California will provide protective firefighting supplies to Russia as unprecedented wildfires continue to burn in that country.

“California has one of the best prepared and most experienced firefighting operations in the world. It is important we share our resources with other nations – the same way they have shared with California in the past,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “I have seen firsthand how dangerous wildfires are and our supplies will keep Russian firefighters safe as they continue to put their lives in harm’s way.”

The California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) coordinated delivery of 2,040 items of personal protective Nomex (fire resistant) clothing including pants, jackets and shrouds provided by the Prison Industry Authority of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. These supplies were collected from Chino, San Luis Obispo and Ione and delivered yesterday to a federal shipping facility in French Camp, California.

California’s supplies are accompanying other resources already in the process of being shipped from the Sharpe Army Depot in French Camp. These supplies are one of several being coordinated by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

STOCKTON - All the players in a public, acrimonious dispute over placing a state prison hospital in Stockton came together Monday to sign an agreement to pave the way for construction to begin this fall.

Appropriately held at the offices of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce - which spearheaded the community's objections to the project's environmental impact report - representatives of Stockton, San Joaquin County, the chamber, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation joined federal prison health care receiver J. Clark Kelso in a signing ceremony witnessed by dozens of local and state officials and community members.

Recounting the process that started in 2007 when the chamber challenged the EIR over the 1,722-bed subacute California Health Care Facility-Stockton hospital's effects on the region, Goucher noted his approval when the city and the county joined the chamber's lawsuit against the state.

"That put more teeth into it," Goucher said. "Now we've gotten to the point where we're signing this. No, we didn't get everything we wanted, but at the end of the day, I think it will be good for the city, county and the state."

"This is a major milestone that produces a one-of-a-kind partnership between the city, county, state and the federal receiver," Villapudua said.

Johnston noted that objections needed to be raised to "protect our local community. We needed to involve the citizens in whatever happens in this process."

Key elements of the settlement include up to $1 million in sales tax revenue from the purchase of construction materials, hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct aid to schools and local government, $3 million in road improvements, and the state's commitment to hire county residents during the construction and activation phases of the new hospital.

Or, as Johnston said: "Jobs, jobs, jobs. The hope is these will be high-paying jobs with good benefits. The challenge now will be the education pipeline," to ensure the new hospital does not drain existing health care providers of trained personnel in a region chronically suffering from a shortage.

Attorney Steve Herum, a founding partner of the Herum Crabtree law firm, who was described by Johnston as "the Darth Vader of our effort" for his role in negotiating the settlement, deferred the praise and instead credited "the vision, boldness and courage of our local and elected leaders that took the step of standing up to the state for the well-being of the community. This is their day."